The Way It Was
by lois lane is my hero
Summary: An accidental traveller from the future comes to Smallville. Who is she and why is she here? Clois.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I think I posted this before on and then I became chicken and then deleted it. Anyway, here it is again. I found it as I was flicking through my comp. Um, yeah. Here you go …

**CHAPTER ONE**

Her father was going to kill her. Not that she could blame him but she was going to be dead whenever she got back. If she got back. She was still in the same position as she had arrived. She remembered a blinding flash of light and then darkness. And then the seemingly never ending darkness that now surrounded her. It was cold and she had no idea where she was. She was uncomfortable, covered in dirt and … naked? Well, that was one complication that she would report back to her father. She sighed and covered herself as best she could with her arms. She had to think. She had to make a plan. She stared at the wall. She had landed in the caves. Whilst staring at the paintings she decided that through some good fortune perhaps he would realise that she was missing. After all, she would be late for their date tonight. Scratch that… she would be absent. And once he realised that he hadn't been graced by her presence he would know that something was up. She shook her head and brought her hand to rub her temples and then corrected her thoughts. "No, Dumbo would think that I stood him up and then he would sulk. And then notice I was missing... wasting precious finding me time." She shook her head once more. She stared at the cave wall. Hoping it would miraculously open and take her home. She looked down her naked form, her eyes moving from her arms to her hands to her fingers. She swore. Another consequence of her little mishap… anything that was on her had simply disappeared. Not only would her father kill her but also that poor unfortunate creature that happened to fall in love with her.

She heard a sound. Footsteps on the dirt floor of the cave. And then the shining light of a torch. Her eyes widened as the beam of light was nearing her. She had to say something, otherwise her naked form would become the star of someone's perverted floor show.

"Hey, watch where you shine that thing!" she shouted to the approaching figure.

Although, it seemed that her saying not to do something compelled the figure to do it. As soon as the light found her it quickly retracted. The figure's voice mumbling apologises. She heard him remove his shirt and in the darkness saw the faint outline of an arm handing the shirt for her to wear. She quickly put it on. Satisfied that it was covering all the necessary areas she said, "Okay, Wiseguy, you can flip the light on now."

As soon as the figure did she saw that she was dressed in light blue flannel. Casting a small confused smirk she looked up at the figure, now able to seen in the new light. She let out a small gasp as her eyes met his confused and embarrassed ones.

"Oh my… you're Clark Kent."

He looked back at the near naked stranger, very much puzzled. "How do you know my name?"

She shook her head. "That's not important right now."

She took a few more tentative steps toward him and leaned in and looked up to look at him. "You must be like 16 or 17 years old."

"I'm eighteen," he corrected, still very puzzled at this new arrival.

She drew her arms around herself, did some calculations in her head and looked back up at him. She sure had a story to tell when she got home. "Lucky for me, you like to do the whole layers thing with your wardrobe. Thanks for the shirt."

"You're welcome. What are you doing here anyway… this late and this …" he trailed off, clearly not comfortable with broaching this subject with a stranger.

"Naked?" she finished for him. "I kinda did something that I wasn't supposed to and got a bit lost."

She felt like telling him the truth would not be the wisest thing to do. It could alter a lot of things. And she was sure, almost sure, that things would work themselves out. He would save her. He always did.

He furrowed his brow. He didn't know why he was at the caves at all. He just woke up and felt compelled to go there. When he saw her… naked no less… he was surprised. Something fishy was going on. After all this was Smallville. And people appearing out of thin air was certainly something to be wary of. He saw the girl approach the paintings of the wall, as if she was studying them.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

She turned to him, slightly annoyed that he disturbed her study of the paintings. "Watching grass grow, what does it look like?"

Her hands drifted over the figures in the paintings. She remembered how she studied these with her father and then Dumbo himself. She was stuck and she knew it. And the paintings on the cave wall weren't going to help her out.

"Do you live near here?" Clark asked, filling in the silence that had filled the cave. He felt compelled to help her. And he certainly couldn't just leave her here.

She made a tisking noise with her tongue and made a face at the wall. How was she supposed to explain this?

She hesitated. "I'm not exactly from around here."

Clark raised his eyebrows and she clarified. "I don't mean in the outer space sci-fi kind of way."

She could have kicked herself. 'Subtle… real subtle.'

Off Clark's highly confused look she continued, "Look, it's just a bit hard to explain."

"Well, do you need a ride anywhere?"

She arched her eyebrow at him. 'He drove here? Really? I'm willing to bet there is no car outside these caves.'

But then where was she going to go? She had no way of getting home and she knew no one. And if she was where she thought she was, there would be a little bit of trouble if she was to be seen. Dilemma, dilemma, dilemma.

"Look, I'll just start up the car and I'll meet you out there. And then we'll figure out what to do from there," he suggested.

She stifled a giggle and nodded. He was going to run home and get the car.

When he left she kicked the ground. What the hell was she going to do?

* * *

As he ran across roads and fields and farms with the truck over his head, hoping at this hour that no one was awake to see him, he couldn't help but wonder about the strange girl. As soon as he was close to the caves he got in the car and drove it towards the cave's entrance. As if on cue she appeared in his gigantically oversized flannel shirt and wandered into the passenger's seat of the truck. He could sense her unease. Something was not right here.

"So, where to?" he said as he began to drive onto the main road.

"I think I may need clothes," she put bluntly.

Clark squirmed a little in his seat. "Well, I know someone who owes me some favours."

She kept her eyes focused straight ahead. She needed to formulate a plan. She was nowhere near home, no money, no food, nothing that could identify her, and she still didn't know if anyone back home had realised that she was missing. There was trouble afoot. That and she was sitting next to THE Clark Kent. Sure, she had met him before but he wouldn't know that. She sighed. She vowed silently to herself to not touch when they tell to not touch. Somehow, in the back of her head, she knew that it was a futile attempt.

"So, where are we going?"

"A friend's place."

A friend? She flicked her mind back and tried to recall Clark's friends from Smallville. She remembered a Chloe, Pete, and she added (very reluctantly) Lex Luthor to the list.

"Friend? Anyone I've met."

He grinned. As if remembering something funny or at the very least happy. "Unless you've been run over by a car, then I don't think you have."

'Oh no. We're going to see Lois Lane.'

* * *

The look on Lois's face when we arrived at her door in the wee hours of the morning was priceless. Her hair in a very loose ponytail, that threatened to undo itself, her slim body in oversized pattern filled pyjamas and stifled a very large yawn.

"What the hell… Smallville?"

Her eyes fell onto the girl in Clark's shirt. "And who's your gal pal?"

Clark rolled his eyes and motioned for the girl to get inside as Lois just stood there utterly confused.

"She's not my gal pal. I found her in the caves. I think she needs help and she won't tell me who she is."

"So, this is what you do on your Friday nights?" she said as she stifled another yawn, leaving the door open for Clark to come in. "You wander the streets and rescue damsels in distress."

The girl quietly bit her lip at the reference of her being a damsel in distress. She was not in distress. Just lost.

Clark shut the door and resisted any attempt to argue. He needed her help and she was already peeved from being woken up so late in the night… or early in the morning.

"So," Lois continued. She had led to them to her circular table and began pouring coffee for everyone. "Who are you?"

'Blunt and straight to the point,' the girl thought. 'Just like I remember.'

"That's not important…" she trailed off. What could she say? Even her being there would get her into trouble. Big trouble. She needed to have a mind wipe trick ready. If only she could…

"That's what you said to me in the caves, that it's not important," Clark said as he sipped the coffee. Even though Lois was not a genius in the kitchen, coffee was the one thing she could make to perfection with her eyes closed.

"Actually, I said how I knew your name, wasn't important," the girl corrected.

"Well, at the moment none of this is important," Lois said, ignoring the look Clark gave her. "What is important is getting you some clothes."

With that she grabbed the girl's hand and led her to her room leaving Clark confused about Lois's course of action.

Lois sat the girl on her bed and started to pull clothes out of her wardrobe.

"Hmm… okay. The last time I lent clothes to somebody… namely my sister, I never got them back. Hopefully, I won't have that problem with you. Although, you'll probably need my mailing address since you'll probably be long gone before you return these to me. Unless you're going to go on a shopping spree while you're here but I don't see any credit cards on you… or anything else on you for that matter."

Lois had pulled out several pants and shirts. "Okay take your pick and leave the rest on the floor… I'll… I was going to say I'll fix it later but why lie for?"

She flashed the girl a huge grin and left the room.

"So, she always talked this much? That's good to know," the girl whispered to herself, searching through the piles of clothes … hoping to find a clean pair of underwear.

"So you found her in the caves?" Lois said as she sipped her coffee.

He nodded.

"Lots of strange things happen in those caves. Makes you think, doesn't it?"

"No stranger, than usual. This is Smallville after all," he said, deflecting the conversation. "What are we going to do about our little visitor?"

"She's hardly little… she's just a bit younger than us, Smallville. Though it still begs the question: Who is she?"

The pair jumped as they heard the sound of a window slamming shut. Clark could hear light footsteps climbing down the fire escape. Lois ran into the bedroom whilst Clark slipped out the door and sped outside, cutting the girl off as she reached the street from the alleyway. Clark caught her by the arms and the girl wasn't the least bit surprised.

"Stupid window… who knew it didn't stay up?" At his look she added, "Well, it was worth a try. I'm not a prisoner or anything."

"And where did you think you were going?" he asked, loosening the grip on her arms slightly. "And why didn't you just use the door like the rest of us."

"Well, I was going to figure out a way to go home. And I didn't want to intrude on your cosy little conversation." She paused and commented, more to herself than to him. "My, my, what a hero complex you have."

They both heard Lois approach and Clark relinquished his grasp on the girl, now fully dressed in a pair of Lois's jeans (which she had to roll up at the bottom because Lois was taller than her) and one of Lois's long sleeved tops in black.

"One would think you were guilty, running away like that. But as far as I'm concerned you haven't done anything wrong." Lois stepped forward slightly, menacing and curious. "Or have you?"

The girl stared up at Lois. With a sense of familiarity and respect. The girl smiled. This was the Lois Lane she remembered.


	2. Chapter 2

A.N.: Thanks for the reviews. The first chapter and this one were written late last year so yeah. If I get my essay done this week then I'll update this again and my other fic as well. Enjoy! (Oh and her name isn't really that important … I was just struggling with names)

**CHAPTER TWO**

He was going to kill her. At first he thought she was running late, as per usual, but after the usual amount of time had passed, when she'd normally appear, apologetic but not guilty, he was beginning to worry. He worried a lot about her and she enjoyed it. She kept getting herself into trouble. Not big trouble, little trouble. In school she made it her mission to bring down the school bully. Wanting to catch him in action, on camera before presenting the evidence to the reigning school authorities. This resulted in many sticky situations… not for her but for the bully and with that the bully swearing vengeance towards her. She had laughed it off but he had remembered and then worried accordingly. He'd often complain about her constantly getting into trouble. But his dad would just laugh… finding it extremely funny that he was with someone that was so much like his mother. And then his mother would make a joke about him suffering from some Oedipal complex. The girl drove him crazy. But he wouldn't have it any other way. Sometimes it was really annoying to be in love with her but some things were worth it.

xxxxxxxxx

She felt like she was five years old being interrogated like this but in the nicest way possible so they didn't offend her. She couldn't believe it. Lois Lane and Clark Kent were sitting right in front of her, around the same age as she was, having no idea who they were going to turn out to be. She wondered how much she could tell them. 'Zero,' she thought to herself. There was a future at stake. 'No pressure,' she told herself. She wondered the outcome of this… the consequences. Her father always warned her about time travel. But still he built the damn machine. Just in case, he said. All she had to do was hide out somewhere until they find her. They'd fix the time machine… a necessary fatality, then come and get her and pretend like the whole thing never happened. Although, had she not gone through there was the possibility of something worse happening. She sighed and appeased herself with that thought amidst the penetrating stares of the pair in front of her.

"Do you do this to every stranger who comes to town?" she asked. "Can't you just let it go, or must you be suspicious of everyone?"

The pair exchanged glances.

"You show up in the caves … na… na…." Clark stumbled on the words, bringing a wry grin to Lois's face.

"The word is naked, Kent. Why you still get embarrassed by it is beyond me... I've seen you naked, you've seen Lana naked … well, Lana's never seen me naked … at least not to my knowledge," Lois quipped.

Clark rolled his eyes at her. This was a serious situation and she was making light of it.

"You've seen Clark naked?" the girl asked. Not that this was a surprise considering the future but in her research she hadn't come across that, at least not this early in their relationship. "How did that happen?"

"We don't need to get into that right now…" Clark started, trying to cover his discomfort over the choice of topic.

Lois on the other hand was ready and willing to answer the question. "I was driving along the long and winding roads of this fair town when there's this flash of lightning and I swerve right into a cornfield. When I got out of the car I saw Mr Terminator over here lying stark naked on the ground. And then he stood up… and that's when Clark Jr and I first met," she recited with a smile on her face before adding, "Not that Clark Jr and I will ever meet again."

This made Clark's face turn a deeper shade of red and the girl just sat there bewildered. 'Well, that's something I didn't know. I wonder if he knew how they first met?'

Clark cleared his throat in attempt to draw attention back to the problem at hand.

"Did you want a cough drop, Smallville?" Lois inquired.

Clark ignored this and turned to the girl. "Back to what I was saying … you show up in the caves … naked … you won't tell us your name but you know mine and just then you decided to hop, jump and skip it out of town."

"Right. And you just couldn't let it go," the girl commented. 'Always the boy scout,' she thought in her head.

"Look, things that happen in those caves aren't normal," he said slowly.

"And Smallville over here likes to take an interest in those caves for some reason," Lois added. "So, it's no surprise he's a tad intrigued by you."

"So, I'm Clark Kent, this is Lois Lane and you are…"

The girl squirmed in her seat. She couldn't give her real name... lots of things would be messed up. Maybe she could. Maybe when they're supposed to meet her in the future they'll realise to keep their traps shut so that things would go the right way… unless she had altered things already. 'Damn, time travel sucks,' she thought to herself. 'Think of a name… any name… any name that is so not close… not remotely close to your own name… think…' she thought.

"Clark, I think she's trying to lie to us," Lois observed, noting the look of deep concentration on the girl's face.

She sighed. "Look, my name isn't important right now. You could call me Teapot, that's how not important it is."

"Well, Teapot it is," Lois declared. "I guess since we named her we have to keep her now."

"This isn't like Shelby… she's not a stray," Clark argued. "You're not are you?"

"Actually, Shelby wasn't a stray he was a lab dog. So, technically he belonged to someone, kinda, so discounting him from the stray category."

Clark was about to respond to Lois but then it realised it wasn't Lois who answered. Both Lois and Clark turned to the girl, who had her hand clasped over her mouth, eyes closed, and Clark could hear her muttering.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid," she muttered, what she thought was inaudibly, then she gasped looked up at Clark and became silent.

"How did you…?" Lois began to ask. "We didn't even tell Chloe about our adventure over super dog."

"Like I said to Clark, I'm not from around here."

"Well, T.P., why don't you tell us where you're from," Lois said.

'T.P.' cringed at her new moniker but she would only have to live with it temporarily.

"I know you get a lot of strange stuff happening in Smallville. Meteor freaks and … meteor freaks. But I don't think you've had a time traveller come through yet," she said cautiously, her eyes focused on their faces, trying to gauge their reactions.

"And what, you're this time traveller?" Clark asked.

"Chloe's going to have a field day with this," Lois stated, believing her instantly.

"You believe her?"

"She's got an honest face. So, yeah I believe her," Lois replied confidently.

She smirked, 'Well, isn't this ironic.' She had definitely had plenty to tell him when she got home.

"How did you get here then?" Clark asked.

"A time machine, obviously," she stated.

Lois let out a small giggle while Clark did not look amused.

"I had access to a time machine. I wasn't supposed to go through but there were some… extenuating circumstances and I kinda went through. I could have come out anywhere, I suppose but I came out of the caves. My dad said something about the machine recognising an internal inclination that would take you where you want to go… if things went wrong…" she trailed off.

"Did things go wrong?" Clark asked softly, seeing the girl slumped over half defeated and half defiant.

"I kinda broke it. Before I got in," she said. "Some bad people were going to use it and I was right near it. I knew they would have killed me or something equally horrible if I destroyed it and then had nowhere to run. So, I took my chances. I'd rather me go through rather than them."

"Even if you had no way to return?" Lois asked.

The girl smiled sadly. "Some things are worth it."


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Notes: Yeah, long time coming. I'm a bit meh about it but I wanted to post it.

**CHAPTER THREE**

Metropolis. Slightly different to the Metropolis he knew but it was Metropolis all the same. The Daily Planet orb confirming his suspicion. Where he was from he knew everyone at The Daily Planet. But now, in this time, in this Metropolis, he didn't know anyone. And he didn't know where she could possibly be. He jumped in heart first, instead of calculating every step like he always did. He smiled at himself. She would be proud of him. Jumping into things without thinking first. That was her forte. His heart ached at the thought of her.

When she didn't arrive for their date adorably late, he grew concerned. She was not known for her punctuality but when it was getting beyond an hour he knew something was wrong. He headed over to the lab where she worked part time with the Professor. He remembered how he spent lots of late nights there watching her in the lab. Watching her, watching the Professor, assisting where she could. Then her father would come and she'd have his complete attention. Then her father's attention would turn on him. His eyes would narrow at him and he'd civilly yet coldly ask how he was.

What he needed a hint or a sign anything that would point him in the right direction. He was standing out the front of The Daily Planet now watching people coming in and out of the Planet's revolving doors. Reporters, editors … billionaires. A billionaire, like … "Bruce Wayne".

* * *

She was slightly glad that super hearing wasn't inherited through marriage. Although logically they weren't married yet so it was more implausible than she first thought. In any case, she was glad that Clark had the super hearing and not Lois. Dawn was breaking and she had to get out of town. As much as Lois and Clark were the superheroes of the future, in what was their present day, a lost time traveller might be too much to handle. As she passed the sleeping Lois on the couch her eyes caught the shine of keys. Car and apartment keys. She smiled. She had caught a glimpse of Lois' Ford Fusion parked outside the Talon. She made a grab for the keys. And slowly tiptoed her way out of the apartment. She was getting out of Smallville. And headed to the one person who would help her find her way back, while she was waiting for him to come, in the one place where she knew he'd be.

* * *

"Well, she took the car," Lois noted, slightly impressed.

Clark glared at her. "You don't have to be so happy about it."

"Hey, she snagged my keys, snuck out of my apartment and stole my car. That takes guts. A slightly criminal mind but guts."

Clark had arrived early at the Talon to get to the bottom of the mystery girl. When he got there he found the door already unlocked, Lois asleep on the couch and the girl nowhere in sight. They decided to go look for her in Lois' car, when they found her missing.

"Well, what's our next step, detective?"

"Why do I have to come up with the plan?"

"You found her. That gives you some semblance of responsibility."

"Okay, then," Clark began, "If I was a lost time traveller, where would I go?"

Lois turned to face him. "Back home."

Clark furrowed his brow. "If she's a time traveller, then she'd go back to a time machine."

She grinned. "Very clever of you, Smallville. But I don't suppose time machines are a common household item."

"So the next question is, who has a time machine?"

Lois grabbed her cell phone from her jacket pocket. "Well, it just so happens we know some one who's a better search engine than Google."

* * *

"Daily Planet info line."

"Hey, Chlo."

"Lois. Finally a sane person to talk to," Chloe said into the phone fas she leaned back in her chair, her head tilted to the ceiling. "It's a bit of a madhouse at the Planet, with billionaire Bruce Wayne coming in to the Planet."

Lois raised an eyebrow. "You mean Gotham City's Bruce Wayne. Hunky, gorgeous, unbelievably rich, playboy Bruce Wayne."

Clark rolled his eyes at Lois' remark. They had moved inside the Talon and decided to get some coffee. He handed Lois her mug, she gave him a questioning look.

"Just try it," he mouthed.

She took a sip and smiled.

"I remembered your penchant for sugar."

"Lo … you still there?"

She took another sip. "Yeah, Chlo. Sorry, got distracted by coffee. So, Bruce Wayne … Don't roll your eyes at me Smallville."

Chloe giggled on the other side of the line. "Yeah, he was in here to inspect the Planet, he's thinking of buying it. All the women here are making themselves pretty for him."

Lois stirred her cup of coffee. "Haven't seen him for yourself yet Chlo?"

"Have you?"

"Maybe once or twice," Lois said with a small smile on her face.

Clark resisted the temptation to eavesdrop on Chloe's side of the conversation, telling Lois to ask the questions and communicate Chloe's answers.

"So, cuz. Is this just a social call or do you need something?"

"How'd you guess?"

Chloe smiled into the phone as she leaned forward in her chair, getting herself prepared to do some searching. "Call it a sixth sense."

"This might sound crazy but do you know if there's someone out there that has a time machine do you."

"You're right it does sound crazy, but I'll just let my fingers to the searching," Chloe said. "This isn't one of your usual requests Lois. Usually you ask the next time that Brad Pitt's in town or something."

Lois glanced her eyes Clark's way, engaging him in a non-verbal conversation. A habit that broke out after her time with the Kents. Clark noticed Lois' stare and understood what Lois was trying to tell him. He nodded.

"It's about a girl that Clark found naked in the caves."

* * *

He couldn't believe it. Bruce Wayne was here in Metropolis. Out in front of The Daily Planet no less. And chasing him was a familiar blonde woman calling his name.

"Mr Wayne! Can I just have a moment of your time Mr Wayne?"

Bruce turned around to address the young woman. Telling her that he was busy right now and that she might want to make an appointment some time if she wished to speak to him, handed her his business card. Chloe grabbed Bruce's arm as he turned away. He turned, looking at the hand that grabbed him and then at Chloe, who had just whispered the words, "Lois Lane said you could help me."

He looked at the scene playing out in front of him. Here was Chloe Sullivan, after the same man that he was after, asking help and using Lois Lane's name to strengthen her appeal. Bruce had stopped at the mention of Lois Lane's name and gestured for Chloe to enter his car and go with him.

As he watched the car drive away he made a decision to follow them.

* * *

"This is where Chloe said to meet them," Lois said, as she stood in a middle of a field.

"It's strange how Chloe got Bruce to help so easily just by mentioning your name," Clark said, probingly.

Lois turned around. They were several feet away, her hands on her hips, her head tilted to one side. "What are you implying Smallville?"

Clark smirked a little at Lois' stance. One that he had grown so familiar with.

Chloe had done a little digging. Searching the term "time machine" until she came across a press release from Wayne Industries about the hope of developing such a technology. To which it was then decided Bruce Wayne was their next port of call, with Chloe being insistent that Bruce Wayne would never help a struggling journalist at the bottom of the food chain at The Daily Planet. Lois then said that if he needed some persuasion just to mention her name, which Chloe did, which then sparked Clark's curiosity. What was Lois' connection to Bruce Wayne? And if there was a connection, what was the nature of it?

Lois returned Clark's smirk as he stood there figuring out a way to approach what could be possibly personal territory. Territory that he wasn't sure of wanting to explore. Lois had pushed the limits on personal space, invading everyone's but she kept herself guarded and he wasn't sure whether he was allowed in.

As Clark opened his mouth to speak he was interrupted by the spinning of propellers from the Wayne Industries helicopter coming from above. Both of them craned their necks upwards to look at it. As the helicopter landed the door opened to reveal Bruce Wayne and a rather star struck Chloe.


	4. Chapter 4

A.N.: There may be typos. And I'm inspired to write so hopefully there will be an update soon.

**CHAPTER FOUR**

He was shorter than he imagined. Although he was slicker than he would have liked in his designer suit, tie and sunglasses. As the helicopter flew away Bruce didn't at all shield himself or sway as it flew away. He just stood there with his sunglasses on and his hands in his pockets. Smiling, somewhat smugly in Clark's opinion. If he didn't have x-ray vision he wouldn't have noticed Bruce's eyes had been directed at Lois the entire time since he arrived. Lois, without having x-ray vision, knew that Bruce was looking at her and consequently she was trying to stare him down.

Chloe moved to Clark's side, watching the staring contest between Bruce and Lois.

"Uh, Clark, what's going on?" she asked.

"I don't exactly know Chloe."

Bruce shot a smile at Lois, flashing his pearly white teeth at her. To which, Lois just shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Come on, let's go," she said as she made a start to the car she had rented as a result of her car being taken by the mystery girl from the future.

"What not even a hello?" came Bruce's deep, rich voice.

Despite the fact that Lois' had his back to all of them they all knew that she was rolling her eyes at that.

Lois hopped into the driver's seat of the car and Chloe hopped into the back. Bruce and Clark seemed to be lagging, neither one willing to be the first to introduce themselves and neither one trying to walk faster or slower than the other.

As they reached the car, Clark automatically went for the front passenger seat door. And so did Bruce. Their hands momentarily touching and then their hands jerking away at the proximity. Chloe had already taken a seat in the back of the car, watching in amusement as Clark and Bruce were vying for the front seat.

"Sorry, just an old habit," Bruce said to Clark, as he retracted his hand from the door.

"Me too."

Both Clark and Bruce had turned to Lois in the driver's seat, wanting her to make the decision for them. She had a tiny little grin on her face as she just turned on the radio, indicating that she didn't want to be involved.

Clark forced himself to look at Bruce, who still had his sunglasses on. He sighed and decided that he was going to be the bigger person.

"Well, you are the guest so I suppose …"

No sooner had Clark said this Bruce opened the door and made himself comfortable. Bruce rolled down the window, took his sunglasses off and gave Clark a smug grin.

"Thanks."

* * *

"Let me get this straight. You want me to reveal classified Wayne Industries information in order for you to track down a time traveller from the future?" Bruce said, from his seat in the front. 

Throughout the car ride, Lois had kept silent, maintaining her focus on the road. Suffice to say, Clark was made uneasy by this silence. There was something about Bruce Wayne that affected Lois differently than anyone else.

"_We_ think she might be headed to Gotham to use your time machine to get back to her time," Clark said, with added emphasis.

"Well, if she's headed to Gotham why are we in Smallville? Shouldn't we be heading to Gotham too?" Chloe piped up.

Clark drew a blank. It was Bruce's idea to come to Smallville, to discuss the matter in person. But suddenly, after seeing Lois and Bruce's interaction, or lack thereof, he now thought that there was ulterior motive behind his appearance in Smallville.

"I wanted to discuss this matter in person. When Ms Sullivan told me of the circumstances regarded the girl I thought it was too important of a matter to be handled over the phone. Don't you think so, Lois?"

But Lois wasn't listening. The car was slowly veering off the road as her eyes were focused on an object in the rear view mirror.

"What the hell …"

"Lois!" Clark yelled, as her focus had been completely distracted.

Bruce grabbed the steering wheel and brought the car back onto the road and continued to steer as Lois turned in her seat to look back. Her eyes in a trance like state.

"Lois, what do you think you're doing?"

But Lois was still focused on looking behind her. Clark turned and saw nothing but the stretch of road that they had already passed.

"I thought I saw someone …" she shook her head out of her trance. "Someone running behind us. Silly, I know."

"Uh, Lois, you think you might wanna drive now?" Chloe asked, slightly perplexed at her cousin's behaviour. First the lack of speaking and then being completely distracted from driving, whilst not unusual, was usually not this severe.

Lois noticed Bruce's hands on hers, as he was steering the car. She made a quick flick of the wrist and Bruce released his hands from hers, while Lois' face remained impassive.

* * *

It had been a close call. He had been trailing Bruce and Chloe since they left Metropolis for Smallville. He had been flying most of the time and he thought that he had escaped all prying eyes. But when the helicopter landed in Smallville and when he saw them … he couldn't think properly. He lost his focus and decided to chase after them, hoping that they wouldn't see him. But she did and when he saw her, her eyes, he took off. Because he knew that she had seen him. And he worried that she would figure out who he was. Everyone always said he had his mother's eyes.

* * *

Lois slid into a booth at The Talon and Clark slid in next to her, whilst Bruce stood there, slightly annoyed and slightly impressed. Bruce now sat opposite Lois while Chloe slid in next to him. 

"So what do you propose we do about this situation?" Bruce asked as his eyes bore into Lois'. She only rolled her eyes in response.

Chloe had never heard Lois ever mention Bruce's name in any conversation, which made Chloe very suspicious of this relationship. Lois told Chloe everything and the things that Lois didn't share meant that they were extremely personal and private for Lois.

"If she is heading to Gotham by car with no money then I say there is a great chance to catch her before she gets there," Lois said, deliberately looking Bruce in the eye, showing him that she was not afraid of him.

"We need to get to her before she does something stupid that's liable to get her in trouble with the authorities. Otherwise she's out of our hands and she'll probably never get home. They'll take her to a psych ward or something, thinking that she's insane with all this talk of time travelling."

"How do you know she's not?" Bruce asked. "She could just be some wayward teen, desperate for attention because her parents give her none."

"I believe her," Lois said.

"And should we all be trusting your judgement? From what I've heard, you're sometimes too trusting of the wrong people and too untrusting of the right ones."

Lois smiled. "So, you've been keeping tabs on me. Isn't that hard to do, from God-knows-where?"

Bruce grinned and Lois did the same back. "Are you ready to say hello to me now, Lois?"

"It's Ms Lane to you," she corrected. "And yes. Hello Bruce."

* * *

He had followed them to The Talon. He could see the four of them through the window sitting together. He didn't know why he followed Bruce and Chloe. He knew that Bruce's company had been developing time travelling technology, moreover he knew that she would be going to Gotham anyway. He needed to get to her before they did. He needed to know what they were planning so that he could be one step ahead of them. The Professor had given him the tools for them to go home. The less they interacted with the people of this time the better. Lest they give anything away.

* * *

Lois spun her head around. "Did you hear that?" 

She turned in time to see the door to The Talon open and shut, with no one visibly coming through it.

"Hear what?" Clark asked. He was the one with the super hearing after all.

"Like a whoosh kinda sound," she said.

"Like the wind?" Chloe asked.

"No," Lois replied, trying to think of the right words to describe what she heard. "Like a person."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Lois, maybe you need some coffee."

"I know what I heard," she said tersely.

She sat up in her seat and promptly scanned The Talon. Until her eyes fell onto a familiar looking person.

"That's him!" she said, as Clark pulled her back down. "That's the guy who was running behind the car."

Clark turned at the look at the person that Lois was pointing at. He had his head down, looking deliberately at the menu, as if he could sense someone looking at him.

"Why would he be following us?" Clark asked. "He's just a kid."

"Did you see him waltz in here? I didn't and we're sitting right near the door. He must be some special kid if he can sneak past unnoticed," she said.

"Lois, I think you're just a bit jumpy," Chloe said.

Clark, meanwhile, was still looking at the person trying to remain unnoticed in the corner of The Talon.

"I think we should focus," Bruce said, placing his hand on Lois' arm to gain her attention. "I'll call Wayne Industries and have them keep a look out for …. What's her name?"

"She didn't exactly tell us," Clark said.

"How about a description then?" Bruce asked, as he pulled a tiny notepad from his suit pocket.

Clark looked to Lois to answer but she was sitting, lost in her thoughts. Trying to figure out why the stranger in The Talon looked familiar.

"Well, she has black hair, about the same length as Lois. She's just a bit shorter than Lois too. She's wearing a black top and jeans," Clark described. He could feel Lois fidget next to him, frustrated that she couldn't work out why he was familiar.

"Well, in the meantime, what should we be doing?" Chloe asked.

"I'll be putting out an APB about your car and hopefully someone would have spotted her," he said. "In the meantime, maybe we should stay put. We shouldn't all be going out to Gotham to find her."

Lois continued to fidget. Finally she hopped over Clark's lap and walked straight over to the stranger in the corner. Before he knew what was happening she pulled down the menu.

"Okay, kid … who the hell …" she faltered as she made contact with eyes the same as her own.

* * *

She was lost. Completely lost and Lois apparently didn't keep maps in her car. She had made it out of Smallville and she could vaguely make out the Metropolis skyline in the distance. She hadn't really thought it all out. For a start she needed money to get onto a plane to get to Gotham. Gotham didn't have the luxury of being a 3 hour drive from Smallville. She needed to sell something. She ran her hands over the steering wheel of the car. Right, sell a practically stolen car. Right, that wouldn't draw attention to herself. As she continued to drive she hoped that when she made it to Metropolis that the situation would fix itself. Hopefully.

* * *

His designer shoe hit the ground of the wet pavement of Gotham City. He didn't cover himself from the rain. He let it spill over him. She had ruined his plans. That had bumped her up in his list. She was ranking somewhere down the bottom of the list, double digits. But her attempt at heroism had moved her up. Not position number one, no that was saved for the most troublesome person. But she was easily the easiest to take out. After he watched the Professor send the boy into the past he promptly made use of the machine himself. He wanted to know where she would be. Taking her out would make him feel better. The Professor had mumbled something about going where her instincts would take her. Hence his appearance in Gotham City. Now all he had to do was find her and kill her. She would be the first of many. 


	5. Chapter 5

A.N.: This a long time coming. Enjoy.

* * *

**CHAPTER FIVE**

"Lois, what do you think you're doing?" he said.

After Lois hopped over him he quickly went after her. He was now standing right behind her, grabbing at her arm and whispering forcefully in her ear.

Lois just brushed him off, putting her hand over his mouth to prevent him from speaking. "I … do I … know you?"

He shifted in his seat. An extremely familiar sight before him. Her eyes piercing through him and despite the fact they were about the same age as him, he couldn't help feeling as small as a pea. Like he had to answer to them. After all they were his parents.

xxxxxxxx

She had ran out of gas. She was just entering Metropolis and the car decided to fail on her. She had no money but her parents had trained her well, so to speak. The early morning starts, the jogging, the ballet lessons, the hikes, martial arts. She could fend for herself. And besides, from where she was, it was only a short jog to Metropolis.

But then what to do in Metropolis? She still needed to get to the East Coast. And by ditching the car she knew that they would instantly find where she was. They were going to track down the car. She wondered if Lois reported it stolen. Because that's what she did. Stole. Her mother would be slightly proud of the little criminal streak. Her dad would chastise her.

She wondered if he had come after her. She was sure he would. And if he did, where would he end up. Would he go to Metropolis? Gotham? Smallville? When she went into the time machine she just wanted to be where he was and it took her to Smallville. She knew she had to get to Gotham and by going to Smallville, it made the journey to Gotham longer. Would he go to Gotham? Or would he want to go see his parents in this time? Whatever he did, she knew he was in this time. It was something she could feel in her bones.

xxxxxxxx

"I'm sorry … she's just a bit out of it," Clark said, as he pried Lois' hand off his mouth. Trying to pull Lois from her spot but she wouldn't budge.

"I'm not out of it Smallville," she said. "Don't tell me he doesn't look familiar?"

Clark searched the stranger's face for any semblance of familiarity. The eyes he had seen somewhere before. The shape of his face, the colour of his hair, his nose, his mouth.

"He does look like someone I know," he replied. "But I can't place the face."

He shifted in his seat. This wasn't going to go down well. But what were the choices that he had? Tell them outright that he was their son from the future who was her to find his girlfriend that had travelled back in time after, it appears, that she was trying to flee some kind of criminal trying to use the time machine for no good? Right … and ruin the future that had yet to happen. He took a deep breath and swallowed … he could at least partly tell the truth? He didn't have to reveal who he was. It really wasn't that necessary.

"It doesn't matter who I am …" he began.

xxxxxxxx

Metropolis police had found Lois' car ditched in a side street on the fringe of Metropolis. Nothing had been taken from the car and the car itself was in pretty good condition except for the few scratches that Lois had told the officer were caused by her and her tendency to crash into things. Bruce had flown them back to Metropolis. Their search narrowed with this new piece of information. But it wasn't the only thing that was new.

"_It doesn't matter who I am …" he began._

"_Why do I feel like I've heard this before?" Lois wondered aloud._

"_Maybe you should take a seat," he suggested._

_Lois felt inclined to agree as she sat on the chair Clark pulled out for her._

"_There is no easy way to put this. Or no way to say this and have you believe me."_

_Lois was rubbing her temples with her fingers. She had been in Smallville for almost two years and dealt with a lot of stuff but she had a sneaking suspicion that this kid was going to make all those meteor freaks seem tame. There was just something about him that screamed … not trouble … but something. It wasn't right, she felt. That she should be meeting him in The Talon, in Smallville, of all places. It made her uneasy. He didn't belong here and she could feel it._

"_Are you another time traveller?" she put bluntly._

"_Another?"_

"_Yeah, we had a girl appear out of nowhere last night. Claimed she was a time traveller. Do you know each other?" Clark asked._

" _She's Ellie. Well, I call her Ellie. If we're talking about the same girl."_

"_Ellie … what is it short for?" Lois asked._

_He was about to answer when Bruce had approached them._

_He sat up and straightened himself as Bruce reached them._

"_They found the car."_

They had all clambered onto the Wayne Industries helicopter headed to Metropolis. It was a 3-hour drive but it was much less than that by air.

They had all piled into the helicopter. Bringing along this second timet raveller. Clark had taken the window seat, Lois the middle and the stranger next to her. Chloe was left behind because of the lack of room in the vehicle.

Lois kept sneaking glances at the boy. She could feel him being uncomfortable beside her. As if he was scared that she would discover who he really was.

"Can you at least give me a name?" she asked at last.

"Jon."

"Is that your real name? You're not going to tell me your last name is Smith?"

He shook his head. He could believe that the woman beside him was his mother. Correction, will be his mother. Although they were the same person there was a difference. The Lois Lane in this time was harder around the edges. He had only been around her for a short time but he could almost feel the walls she had made around herself.

They were due to land at Metropolis Airport shortly. He hoped that a quick search of the city would bear fruitful results. That he would be able to take her home without revealing other vital information.

xxxxxxxx

She stood in front of the screens that were displaying the departure times at Metropolis airport. She couldn't figure out a way to get onto the plane. She felt defeated. She thought that she would be more resilient than this. She sighed and sat down in a nearby chair. She would just wait for them to come and find her. It was only a matter of time. The car would have been discovered. They would have tracked her to Metropolis. So she would sit and wait and see what fate had in store for her.

xxxxxxxx

He couldn't believe that his simple – to him it was simple – rescue mission of his girlfriend had turned into the time travel trip from hell. The danger it posed to meet his parents before they were his parents was enormous. And then there was Bruce.

Bruce hadn't even noticed him. Dismissed him and only saw him as a means to an end. He couldn't help but be relived. He didn't want to have to deal with Bruce's probing questions and his elite detective skills. This wasn't the time nor the place. But despite the fact that in their present he was only just a few years younger did not ease the unease he felt at Bruce's presence. He hoped no one else would have noticed. No doubt that would have drawn more suspicious glances in his direction. And a couple of thousand by Lois was already more than enough.

"So, Jon," he said, drawing out his name. "What's your connection to this missing girl?"

"Excuse me, sir?" he said by reflex. Bruce was always 'sir' to him. No matter how old or in whatever space of time. He was sure Bruce could snap him like a twig.

Bruce turned to face Jon in his seat. Face impassive. Radiating complete class and superiority.

"How do you know, the girl … Ellie," he repeated. His eyes boring into Jon's.

"She's a good friend of mine."

"How good of a friend?"

"Bruce …" Lois warned.

"They must be pretty good friends if he went back in time to rescue her," he reasoned.

"And she went back in time to save him too, don't forget," Clark said, remembering the distant yet determined look in Ellie's eyes when recounting her story.

"We're really good friends," Jon stressed. They didn't need to know more than was necessary. Being there was already bad enough.

Bruce smirked. Not believing Jon. "Well, you'll forgive me if I don't believe you."

Lois put her hand on Jon's arm. "Don't mind him. He's just PMSing."

Bruce rolled his eyes. "I just like having all the facts."

"You always think you're the only one entitled to these facts," Lois said. "It's not like you're so forthcoming with information."

"Lois …" Clark warned. He didn't want a fight to break out when they several hundred feet above the ground.

"Don't worry, Clark. I won't be pushing him out of the helicopter. Unfortunately we need him alive," Lois teased.

Jon watched as Bruce and Lois tried to outstare each other. A non-verbal battle was being played out. Clark was as perplexed as Jon was. There was a history between them and it seemed, some unfinished business.

Jon wondered what it was because in the future Lois and Bruce's relationship was quite amicable.

Clark, in an attempt to dissolve the tension, in the now claustrophobic helicopter, peered through the window and announced, "I think we're here."

xxxxxxxx

Ellie watched the multitude of people flooding the terminal. Departing. Arriving. With loved ones to greet them. She watched them. Searching through them, trying to spot Jon. Her eyes spotted a familiar figure in the crowd.

"It couldn't be …" she whispered.

"Ellie!" he called.

It was. Excited and relieved she ran up to him, pushing the crowd away and jumped straight into his arms.


	6. Chapter 6

A.N.: So it's not been as Clois filled as I intended. I'm getting sidetracked but this is a Clois story eventually

* * *

** CHAPTER SIX**

Jon entered the airport terminal running. And he saw her sitting by herself. Eyes searching. He came to a stop. Relieved. She was okay. He watched as she got up from her seat. Maybe she saw him. He saw her turn and run away from. Towards someone else in the crowd.

He sighed. "This is just great …"

"Isn't that Ellie?" Clark said as he reached Jon.

"Looks like her. Why is she hugging someone that isn't you?" Lois said as she continued to move towards Ellie and the stranger she had her arms wrapped around.

Bruce had a smug look on his face. A sly grin forming on his face. "I guess you and her are really just friends," Bruce snickered, as he walked past a stationary Jon, shoving him in the shoulder in the process.

Clark gave Jon a look of sympathy and followed Bruce and Lois.

"What the hell is he doing here?" he said as he made his way to her.

xxxxxxxx

"Gray! What are you doing here?" she said, as she finally released her hold on him.

She took a good look at him. A sight for sore eyes. He was tall and had dark hair. He looked good for his age and she had never been so glad to see him.

"Looking for you, isn't it obvious?" he said, a smile in his voice.

"But I was sure Jon was going to come back for me," Ellie said. "He did, didn't he?"

Gray put an arm around her as they began to walk. "I'm just back up. Just in case Jon's rescue mission didn't pan out. And by the look of things his plan didn't turn out so well."

Ellie frowned. "I'm sure he's here somewhere. He wouldn't just leave me."

"Of course not. But just to make sure," he said.

"Hey!" Lois called out.

Ellie turned around. "Well, it took you long enough."

Lois just rolled her eyes.

Ellie felt Gray stiffen next to her as Bruce Wayne made an appearance. She didn't have long to register his appearance as Jon grabbed her and embraced her. His head buried in her neck.

"Thank goodness, you're okay," he breathed into her neck.

"What took you so long," she said as they broke apart. Aware of the audience around them.

"I took a few unexpected detours," he replied gesturing to his company.

"I can tell," she said. "Hey …"

"Who's your friend?" Lois asked, breaking the silence, pointing to the dark haired man.

Ellie shifted her feet. "Him? Oh, he's just an old family friend. Just came to make sure I was okay."

"Daddy mustn't have thought lover boy here could cut it," Bruce said with a sardonic smile.

Jon ground his teeth and was about to say something in response but Ellie's hand on his arm stopped him.

"Picking a fight with Bruce Wayne is never a good thing," she whispered.

"You shouldn't listen to your friend over there. She's a smart girl," Bruce said, overhearing Ellie's warning.

Ellie couldn't help but blush.

"So, Gray. Is Bruce's assumption correct?" Clark asked, trying to get his head around this newcomer.

"Well, Ellie's father just wanted another person tracking her down. He's just being protective. I'm sure it has nothing to do with his opinion of Jon," Gray said diplomatically. Not really believing his own words.

"That's for the vote of confidence, Gray. Really," Jon snapped sarcastically. "Now tell me you have a way to go back home."

"Of course I do. Always be prepared is my motto," Gray said, the irony lost on most of his audience.

xxxxxxxx

With Bruce Wayne's power they made their way into a VIP section in the airport, usually reserved for first class passengers waiting to board their flights. Out in the table in front of them were plans for a time machine.

"The only way to get back is to build the time machine to these specifications. It took years to perfect these plans and the technology is already available it just needs tweaking and some outside guidance," Gray explained.

Bruce's eyes roamed over the plans and noticed part of the paper on which the plans were printed had been torn. It carried the makings of a logo. Bruce pulled the plans away from the table to study them further. His eyes widened as he recognised what the logo pertained to.

"These plans belong to Wayne Industries!" he said. "I would have never allowed documents for anything belonging to my company be released under any circumstances."

Gray smirked. "Well, maybe you're not in charge of Wayne Industries any more, Bruce."

Ellie rolled her eyes at the horrified look on Bruce's face. "Gray, don't tease him. He's liable to remember this and kick your butt in the future."

"It's not everyday that I can be one up on Bruce Wayne," Gray said with a smile.

Bruce didn't like the smile one bit.

Gray continued. "These weren't just _any_ circumstances so your rules don't apply."

"What would be so important that I would release classified Wayne Industries documents?"

"Uh, hello. Wayward time travellers right here," Ellie pointed out. "I think that would qualify as important."

"Not at the moment it doesn't," he said, staring at the plans again.

He missed the shocked look on Ellie's face and missed her whisper, "I don't qualify as important?"

She brought her arms around herself and the first time since being found felt deflated. Jon didn't notice Ellie's reaction and continued to lie back on his chair and eating the food they had ordered and was currently sharing with Lois.

Clark, on the other had, heard her whisper and saw her physically withdraw from the continuing discussion over the time machine.

"What were you doing in contact with a time machine in the first place? Not only a time machine but a Wayne Industries time machine?" he asked incredulously. "There is no way I would have given a teenager – two teenagers – and who ever you are," he directed at Gray, "access to it."

Ellie spoke up, softly. "I work for the Professor sometimes that's how I had access to the time machine."

"Aren't you a little young to be working with some Professor dude on a big project like this?" Lois interrupted, as she finished chewing on a hot chip, leaving some sauce around her mouth.

"Uh, Lois," Clark said, as he made several gestures to her face. "You've got something on your face."

Lois made a 'Huh?' expression before Jon handed her a serviette and she dutifully wiped the sauce off, completely non-plussed.

"Well, we all have our connections," Ellie said with a small smile, not daring to look up at Bruce.

"How do I even know you didn't break into Wayne Industries and got the short end of the stick and ended up here? As a matter of fact, how do I even know this isn't some elaborate hoax that's going to swindle Wayne Industries out of millions of dollars?" Bruce questioned, his suspicions catching up with him. He wasn't from Smallville, so supernatural occurrences such as these were rare and far between, if non-existent.

"Getting a little paranoid aren't we Brucey," Lois joked.

Gray cracked a smile. "And paranoia isn't a good look on you."

"Look, Bruce," Clark began, using Bruce's name for the first time and finding the name alien coming out of his mouth. "You're the only one here that thinks that time travel is implausible despite the fact that your company is developing a time machine. That's a little contradictory of you, don't you think?"

Lois let a small grin escape her lips, which Jon caught and found himself smiling too.

Bruce was did not have the upper hand at all and he wasn't liking it. He found it was making him grind his teeth much too much.

"You want proof, Bruce?" Gray asked, a sinister smile on his face. "Because we all know you have some secrets in the closet."

If Bruce was threatened he hid it well. "You're bluffing."

"You don't really go spelunking," Ellie said softly. "And this whole playboy thing is a disguise for your other … interests."

Out of the corner of her eye she sees Bruce paying attention to her. "Struck a nerve, didn't I?"

He sighed and held his hands up in defeat. "Okay … for now, say I believe you. All of you. We're just going to build this time machine and send you all back to where you came from."

Gray nodded. "Then you're going to have to destroy the time machine and the plans. Don't want you getting ahead of yourselves and distorting the timeline that was meant to be."

Lois snorted. "Right, because everything so far has been on the up and up."

Clark rolled his eyes. An action that happened more when he was with Lois. "Great, so we have a plan.

"Great," Ellie said, her arms folded in front of her, looking none too pleased despite the recent developments. "The sooner I get back home, where people actually know who I am, the better."


End file.
